A comparative flower and fruit anatomical study of Quercus acutissima, a biennial-fruiting oak from the Cerris group (Fagaceae).

A developmental series of flowers and fruits of Quercus acutissima (subgenus Quercus section Cerris) was collected over a growing season and examined for an intersectional, comparative anatomical study. Pistillate flowers of the current growing season, each consisting of a pistil with three long, slightly recurved styles, six tepals, and an inconspicuous ovary subtended by a few cycles of cupule scales, emerged in early May, were pollinated by mid-May, and then were quiescent for the remainder of the growing season. Flowers from the previous growing season resumed growth in mid-May, each forming three locules delimited by septa in the ovary, with two bitegmic, epitropous ovules developing in each locule.